Improvement in boiler-furnace fronts



G. L. ALLEN. BOILER FURNACE FRONT.

No.189,77. Patented April 3, 177.

Witnesses @ZM I Km! animw.

; TATE- GEORGE L. ALLEN, on WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TOWILLIAM A ALLEN & SONS, oFSAMn PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT YIN BOILER-FURNACE FRONTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. [89,077, dated April 3,1877; application filed March 2, 187.7.

To all whom it may 0mm.- I Be it known that I, GEORGE L. ALLEN, ofWorcester, county of Worcester, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Boiler-Furnace Frontsand I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings forming part of this specification, and in which Figure 1represents a front view of so much of a boiler-furnace as is necessaryto illustrate my present invention. Fig. 2 represents a similar view tothat shown in Fig. 1, excepting the doors to the front of the boiler areswung open. Fig. 3 represents a top or plan view of a portion of theboiler-furnace and boiler-front, as will be hereinafter more fullyexplained, and Fig. 4 represents a horizontal section on line A B, Fig.1, through the boiler-front, as will be hereafter more fully explained.

To enable those Skilled in the art to which my invention belongs to makeand use the same, I will proceed to describe it more in detail.

1n the drawings, the part marked A represents the front end of theboiler, and B the extension of the boiler-shell beyond the boilerhead 0,and D represents the draft-opening for the escape of the smoke andgaseous products of combustion. E represents the boilerfurnace front,which is cast in a single piece, and is provided with suitable openingsfor the ash-doors a a and fire or feed doors b b, and also with a largeopening, F, sufficient to expose the head 0 of the boiler and its fireflues or tubes d. A flange or projection, G, is cast upon the outer'side of boiler-front E, entirely around the opening F, said flangehaving a groove, 0, cast or formed therein, for receiving and holdingthe curved edges ff of the boiler-doors H H, which are hinged to theboiler-front at g g. The boiler-doors are made so that when they areclosed they form a convex circular head for closing the smokechamber 1,1 between the boiler-head G and convex doors H H. By making theboilerfront E with a grooved circular flange or projection, G, and e,the boiler-front is greatly strengthened, while at the same time theouter curved edges ff of the doors H H are prevented from springing orwarping out of place, while at the same time a close and tight jointbetween the doors and the boiler-front E is obtained.

Then, again, another advantage is obtained by my mode of constructingthe boiler-doors H H in the peculiar manner shown and described, since Iobtain by such construction an increased smoke-chamber, whereby theshell part B of the boiler, which projects beyond the water-line, orhead 0 of the boiler, can be reduced in length some six inches and stillobtain the same effective draft, through the draft flue or opening D, asbefore such reduction in the length of the shell part B. Still, by thisreduction of the part B I am able to bring the lower part of the shellof the boiler under the opening D, outside of the fire-line, thusinsuring greater utility and duration of the boiler. The doors areprovided with a lap-joint, as shown at h, Fig. 4, and hand-piece m,which passes through one of the doors, and is provided with a catch--piece, n, whereby, when the doors are closed andhand-piece m turned'tobring the catch- Previous to my present invention, great trouble hadbeen experienced in consequence of the cracking of the boiler-fronts, byreason of the expansion of the boiler, settling of the same or of thebrick or mason work about it. To obviate these objections, myboiler-front is secured to the front of the boiler, and the mason-work Jabout it, by means of self-adjusting holding-rods K ,K. These rods passthrough the ear-pieces L, upon the projections M M, secured to the sidesof the boiler, thence through openings or holes 0 o in the brickwork,and through holes in the boiler-front, with nuts 10 10 upon their outerends, whereby the boiler-furnace front E is drawn up and trued againstthe end of the boiler-shell B. From this construction it will be seenthat, as the rods 0 0 have play in the mason-work J,

the boiler can rise or fall in consequence of contraction or expansion,or it may settle with the brick-work, and still not injure theboiler-furnace front. Still, again, the shell part B of the boiler mayexpand and contract without injuring or cracking the furnace andboiler-front E.

In setting a boiler, my construction enables the work to be performed ina very quick and expeditious manner, since the boiler-front can bearranged and drawn against the shell part B, where it will be held in avery true and even manner while the mason-work is being completed.

In addition to the advantages before enu' merated as resulting from myconstruction of the doors H H in the manner shown and described, I amenabled to expose the entire front of the boiler-head O and the ends ofthe tubes d, as indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawngs, which is a greatconvenience, since it enables the boiler-head to be examined, and thesmoke-chamber D and boiler-fines d to be cleaned, with little trouble,as well as any repairs which may be necessary from time to time.

Having described my improvements in boiler-furnace fronts, what I claimtherein as new and of my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-- 1. The combination, with the grooved circular projection orflange Gof the boiler-fun GEORGE L. ALLEN.

Witnesses:

EDWIN E. MOORE, ALBERT A. BARKER.

